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Tag Archives: party

Flavored oyster crackers are fun to make and tasty! They’re a great snack for parties.

Our son planned a weekend video gaming party with his cousin. He instructed me that he would be needing snacks for this little soiree.

And not just any snack would do. Popcorn? No. Licorice? Maybe.

Actually, he wanted muddy buddies, but I nixed that idea. Chocolate and powdered sugar + video game controllers? Not so much.

The thing with gaming party snacks is, they come with rules. Wrappers take too long to deal with. Cookies take too long to eat. You need something with no wrappers, something that can be eaten one small handful at a time, something that doesn’t get your hands messy.

And the answer is… flavored oyster crackers.

There are lots of ways to flavor plain crackers. Whatever flavor you choose, they’re simple, quick, and really delicious.

This particular flavor combo was suggested to me by a friend. A brilliant friend. A friend who knows what’s good.

I was kind of surprised, actually. You can taste both the onion and the dill in these crackers, but the combination of the two flavors was something else entirely.

You don’t have to limit yourself to oyster crackers here. This same combination would work with pretzels or saltines, too.

But for this little gaming get-together, the oyster crackers worked perfectly. Maybe next time, I’ll have the party and my kids will make the snacks!

Chocolate Mint Candy; These easy candies are made with layers of chocolate and mint.

This December is shaping up to be an… umm… exciting one. For lack of a better word.

After spending Thanksgiving recovering from pneumonia, which is, by the way, one of the least pleasant experiences I have ever had, my kids also got sick, my husband left town on a business trip and then my fridge died.

Merry Christmas, right?

I spent my week shopping for refrigerators and not for groceries, and running all my fridge-purchase-decision-questions past Robb over the phone.

Ugh.

And thus, this week’s dessert is simple, easy, and requires no refrigeration.

If you haven’t yet, it’s time you met my friends!

I love spending the holidays with my friends, and we love sharing our favorite holiday treats with you. Check out all the amazing recipes we came up with for this party!

Just click on each photo to jump to the recipes.

My Grandfather used to give all the girls in the family a box of mint sandwiches for Christmas, so this recipe holds nice memories for me. To make life easy, I used candy melts like those in the links below. If you want a nicer quality candy, you could splurge on better quality chocolate.

Either way, these simple candies make such a wonderful and memorable holiday treat!

chocolate mint candy

Easy Homemade Candy; this candy is similar to Butterfinger candy bars, and easy to make.

I think I need to be up front about this and tell you that this brilliant genius easy-candy idea was not mine. I wish it was, don’t get me wrong, but I really just cannot take credit.

I found this on Cookies and Cups, although I’m not sure Shelley can take credit either. Whoever first thought to melt candy corn and mix it with peanut butter should get some kind of award.

The only part of this that was actually my idea was using the coffin-shaped cookie cutter.

Okay, so maybe I’m not in the running for genius of the year, but that is not going to stop me from sharing this fantastic recipe with you. Because who knew you could make your own Butterfinger Candy Bars at home?!

Because, y’all?! My friends are back!! And we’ve gathered up some amazing-awesome Halloween recipes just for you. Because that’s the kind of friends we are.

Here’s the story. Each one of my friends has made something fun today, and below is a photo and link to each and every one of them. If I know you, you’re going to want to check out all of them. Because that’s the kind of friend you are. You might even be the friend who wants to share these ideas with your friends on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter or whatever else you’re using.

Just click each image below to read the posts and get the recipes.

Let’s talk about Butterfingers again. Am I boring you yet?

Important Tip #1: Use fresh candy corn. Just like with marshmallows in krispie treats, old and stale candy corn is not your friend. Feed those to the kids and get a new bag for your Butterfingers.

Important Tip #2: Get the peanut butter ready ahead of time, as well as a big strong spoon and some elbow grease. Once the candy corn comes out of the microwave, you’re going to need to get crackin’ on mixing in that peanut butter. This stuff sets up fast, it’s hard to stir, and you’re going to need to work fast and hard.

Slightly less Important Tip #3: You probably figured this out on your own, but the coffin cookie cutter is totally unnecessary. Personally, I made a few Butterfinger coffins, and then I cut the rest into neat little rectangles with a big knife. I like this idea too, because you can control the portion size (for my kids. and myself.) and you don’t have any waste.

I hope you enjoy this bark, and all the genius Halloween recipes today! Drop me a comment below if you did!

easy homemade candy

Dip is the perfect game day snack! This collection of great dips is perfect for any get together, superbowl party, or Sunday afternoon.

I couldn’t care less about football. I really couldn’t.

You know what I like? Superbowl party food. That’s what I think about in late January.

Since Robb is no sports fan either, our one family football fan, The Lizard, has to watch his games alone, or at Grandpa’s house. Thank goodness for grandpas.

Grandpa invited us over for Superbowl watching, and I excitedly searched high and low for great game day snacks. I don’t even know which teams are playing, and please don’t tell me, because I don’t care.

But here is a far more interesting fact: Most of the game day snacks I found came in one of two forms. Either A) nachos or B) dips.

Fine. With. Me.

Today I’m bringing you the best of the best… this collection has some of the tastiest dips and spreads I have found. You’re certain to find several you can’t cheer your favorite team without!

Brown Butter Dip

Buffalo Cauliflower Dip

Caramel Apple Dip

Creamy Basil Dip

Zucchini Salsa

White Bean Red Pepper Dip

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Mango Salsa

Spinach Artichoke Dip

You can find the recipes to all these amazing dips by clicking on the pictures, or on the links below.

I hope you can find a dip or two that you can use for your own game day event, I truly do. If you don’t please let me know. I’ll be in the kitchen…

… dipping something.

P.S. Big Fat Thanks to all the amazing bloggers who allowed me to link to their awesome dips today. All these blogs are fantastic, and you should totally spend some time diving into to each of them. I know I will! Continue reading “Game Day Dip Round-up” »

I like making lists for my kids. They hate it, because the lists are always lists of chores to be done, and never lists of ice cream places we’re visiting or lists of video games we’re planning to purchase.

After showing a dear friend my new list-making-system, she confessed that her husband loves lists. She makes lists for him, and he happily goes about checking things off. She also admitted that if he did the same for her, she would be… well,… let’s just say it would not end well.

Which got me thinking. I asked Robb whether he would like me to make him a list, and his reply was an emphatic “No.” I tried to remind him how much he loved the extensive and detailed lists I have made in the past when I have gone out of town and left him home alone with the children. He claims he only likes those lists because I have so much stuff to do. {Welcome to my world.}

I feel I have a new thing to tease Robb about, and let’s be honest, teasing Robb brings me so much joy.

This same friend and her family came to our house for an evening of chatting and chatting and board games and more chatting, fueled by Mexican food and Dr. Pepper, and lots and lots of cookies. And guess what? It wasn’t me that made the cookies this time. Continue reading “Chunky Taco Dip” »

In the twelve years we have lived in our home, we have had some strange experiences with pesky animals. The worst, for me, are the mice. Because I’m a mouseophobe. Or rodentophobe. Wait, I’m not afraid of hamsters or squirrels. Let’s stick with mouseophobe. And ratophobe.

I. HATE. Mice. I can’t word that strongly enough.

So one day, a couple years ago, when Robb was conveniently out of town, I heard this weird scratching noise in the basement hallway. After dark. I stood in the hall to check it out and the noise disappeared. I walked away, and it started again. I came back and it stopped. It was like a horror film.

My kids have the worst teeth. You wouldn’t believe some of the things my dentist, orthodontist, and oral surgeon have told me.

Yeah, we have an oral surgeon. No biggie.

Whenever we go to the dentist, the Lizard (kid #1) is the favorite. He has no cavities, and no need of braces. Of course, he doesn’t brush his teeth much, either, but that doesn’t seem to be causing him any problems. He does have one weird little quirk. The dentist’s exact words: “His teeth look like jelly beans. Sideways jelly beans.” Which really means nothing, except that sometimes it feels like he has a cavity, when he really doesn’t.

The Hippie Chick (kid #3) inherited an underbite. She requires one round of braces for the underbite, and a second for teeth straightening after her molars all come in.

Do you drink much Kool-Aid? Me neither. I’ve never been a huge fan of the stuff. On the other hand, my kids get tired of drinking water, and I get tired of shelling out for milk and single-serving drinks. I found a sweet sale + coupon price of $.07 per packet on the Kool-Aid, so I went nuts and bought 45 packages, 5 each of 9 different flavors.

I learned something interesting by doing this. Did you know that a 13-year-old is perfectly capable of making a pitcher full of Kool-Aid, but completely incapable of cleaning up the mess? I always know when offspring #2 has been making Kool-Aid, because I find the following items on the kitchen counter:

And so, Kool-Aid has surprisingly become a tool for teaching my son responsibility. Son: “Mom, can I make Kool-Aid?” Me: “Last time, that didn’t work out too well for me.” He is now pointing out to me that he cleaned up his mess. And I am responding by making him list every part of the mess that he believes he cleaned up.

A simple recipe for a festive white chocolate popcorn snack that is perfect for entertaining.

Source: I’ve been making this popcorn treat for years, but recently found some good addition ideas at She Wears Many Hats.

Yield: about 8 cups

I have friends that I get together with once a month, and this week it was my turn to host. Since my lunch of pasta salad with italian dressing and crescent roll knots with garlic butter was slightly less than impressive, I figured I could wow them with a table snack. I love white chocolate popcorn, and I loved Amy’s ideas for souping it up and making it a little more… well, fun. Continue reading “Party Popcorn” »